The Rope Halter

An indispensable piece of horsemanship equipment

Brandon McAuslan shares his views on the rope halter and its use as a tool in horsemanship.

I regularly receive requests for help from horse owners who are having a difficult time with their horses. I try to assist with problems ranging from nipping and crowding on the ground to bucking, rearing, or bolting under saddle. There is rarely a uniform solution to any of these problems. Sometimes, the answer is a relatively simple change in routine or animal husbandry, but often, what is required is the application of a methodical process like starting a horse. In nearly every situation I have been called to assist with training or behavioural problem solving, my rope halter is the one indispensable piece of equipment I have used.

Horsemanship is a psychological endeavour because we work foremost with a horse’s mind. Everything a horse does is the physical manifestation of a psychological state. We are looking to adapt our horse’s way of thinking and psychology so that they offer a predictable set of behaviours from our interactions with them. This is achieved initially by the lessons we teach our horses on the ground in a controlled environment. This might be as simple as how we interact with our horses in their stable or lead them to and from their fields. Or it can be a complicated progressive system of groundwork, in-hand work, and ridden exercises. With this in mind, every aspiring horseperson should ensure that the one piece of entry-level equipment they possess is a quality rope halter.

The modern rope halter has been popularised and associated with the natural horsemanship movement in the last couple of decades. However, mankind has known how to make rope since prehistoric times, and rope has been used in one form or another for the handling and haltering of livestock and horses for thousands of years. 

In my view, the association with natural horsemanship has created a misconception that a rope halter is an exclusively safe, kind and gentle piece of equipment. Like many items, depending on its use or misuse, the rope halter is capable of being either the most comfortable piece of equipment you will put on your horse’s head or one of the most severe. This is because the rope halter creates a lot more pressure in a smaller area of contact than the English flat nylon or leather headcollar. To demonstrate this, I usually have people go through this simple exercise:

Find yourself a lead rope and a length of baler twine. Tie the rope and twine in a loop against a fence or stable bar to hook your arm through each one at a time. Starting with the lead rope, put your arm up through the loop and lean back, letting your forearm support your weight. This will feel relatively comfortable, and you could probably spend time learning like this - pulling against the lead rope would not be particularly uncomfortable. This is how your horse feels whilst wearing a flat nylon or leather headcollar. Now repeat the experiment by putting your forearm through the loop of twine and lean away from it. You will find almost instantly that the twine cuts into the flesh of your arm uncomfortably. Leaning here for any length of time will only increase your discomfort, and if you attempt to pull against the twine, it will compound the discomfort. You will find comfort in the release when you cease leaning against the twine.

This exercise demonstrates how the rope halter operates when on and how it affects your horse. Compared to the size of a horse’s head, the rope is small enough to create a degree of un-ignorable pressure or discomfort depending on the amount of force used (and the horse's sensitivity). However, when no pressure is applied to a rope halter whilst on a horse’s head, I believe this is the most comfortable and least intrusive piece of equipment a horse can wear. I prefer my rope halters to be of a soft rope rather than a stiff rope for this reason - a stiff rope will not conform as easily to the shape of a horse’s head or lay as comfortably when pressure is not being applied.

Benefits of the Rope Halter

One of the major benefits of using a rope halter is that it can provide several different contextual feels to a horse depending on how it is used.

There are three main contact areas on a rope halter when applying pressure (See pic 1)

A - the Nose, B - the Poll, and C - behind the jaw.

If I ask a horse to back away from me, I will pick the lead rope up and stand beside the horse, pulling the rope towards the horse’s chest. This will create pressure from the halter at point A, but points B and C will remain slack, and no pressure will be felt there. If I ask a horse to move towards me, I will pick up the lead rope and, standing facing my horse, I will pull it towards me. On this occasion, the horse will feel no pressure at point A on its nose. It will, however, feel pressure at point C as the rope will create contact primarily behind the jaw, and there will be a little pressure at point B in the poll. This is good for my horse as there is no dubiety over my intentions. A horse will learn from my body language and position as well as the pressure, but having the pressure offers a unique specific context, and feel for each differing request means there is less area for misunderstanding. If I ask a horse to lower its head, I will (gently) pull the rope straight down - the horse will feel pressure primarily at B the poll, but also A the nose, and C at the jaw. A rope halter can provide a horse with numerous unique contexts, and as such, the horse will learn faster and respond quicker to my cues.

The traditional English flat nylon or leather headcollar is a very poor tool to use in training. I have had little success in training a horse to listen to any groundwork cues whilst wearing a flat headcollar. The large surface area means that pressure can be comfortably ignored; therefore, there is no incentive to seek release in any meaningful way. The broken nature of the connections around the horse’s head (with metal rings, buckles, etc.) means there is no opportunity for a consistent or subtle sensation of feel for the horse. A flat nylon headcollar will offer little feel to a horse.

When we compare the rope halter to another natural horsemanship style halter - the constricting halter (a flat halter with a double roped nose piece that constricts around the nose when pressure is applied), we can again see the advantages of the rope halter. If I ask the horse to back up in a constricting halter, the rope will constrict around and squash the horse’s face. If I ask the horse to move towards me, the rope will constrict around and squash the horse’s face. If I ask the horse to lower its head or turn to the side, the rope will constrict around and squash the horse’s face. Using a constricting halter/headcollar is not a good deal for the horse as there is no unique pressure to associate with any feel presented. These devices are of limited use and, in my opinion, are an unnecessary gimmick.

Riding in a rope halter is possible as an alternative to a bridle. However, I feel that not many bitless riders consider the amount of pressure and discomfort a rope halter can produce, or the fact that the limited feel a rope halter can provide from the saddle means that it will be difficult to develop a horse in the classical movements. It is only possible to provide nose pressure with left and right for directional steering from the saddle. A hackamore or bit can offer a far superior communication and feel to a horse than a rope halter whilst ridden. However, I used a rope halter for many years as my exclusive ridden tool for putting first rides on horses or working with remedial horses in training. These days, I would prefer to put a horse through a bitting process and begin ridden work with a bit or hackamore rather than rely on a rope halter, as this allows for a more refined training from the outset, with a foundation that can be progressed quicker and further than starting with a rope halter.

I do not like to see buckles or snaps on my rope halters. In many forms of horsemanship, an exercise is to wiggle or shake the rope in order to ask a horse to back up. Using a line with a buckle, the buckle will inevitably hit the horse in the bony area at the bottom of the jaw. This is painful and unpleasant for the horse and teaches the behaviour of evasively raising the head to back up, therefore teaching a horse to carry itself hollow in this movement. I prefer my line to be tied directly to the halter, eliminating the need for any metal near the horse’s chin. A buckle will also create a degree of white noise for the horse in training, as the horse will feel the weight of the buckle with any movement made, intentional or not.

When it comes to the line attached to the rope halter for groundwork, the normal length is considered to be twelve feet. This is due to the (until recent years) unanimous use of the rope halter in western riding. Traditional western horses tend to be smaller than horses used for many English riding disciplines. A twelve-foot line would be appropriate for a 15-hand Quarter horse or an Appaloosa. However, for larger horses, we need to consider a longer line. This is to allow them movement on a comfortable circle and provide us with the distance to remain safe whilst working. A moment’s exuberance or belligerence from a green/young horse can easily result in personal injury. I always advise students that, to avoid a kick, you need to keep at least one foot outside the distance a horse can kick. Therefore, whenever we work on the ground with a horse greater than 15 hands, I recommend adding at least two feet to the rope per hand of the horse. A good line size to acquire for groundwork in conjunction with a rope halter is 14 feet. This allows for a wider variety of sizes of horses to work with, and it is practical enough to be used for leading out to pasture, etc. Ideally, your line length should be specific to the size of your horse. For example, our 18h young Warmblood requires using a 22ft line for groundwork.

When it comes to fit, no one rope halter will fit all horses. I have a number of rope halters in my yard for the great variety of breeds under our care. It goes without saying that the halter that fits the 14.2h Connemara will not fit the 17h Clydesdale, so when purchasing a rope halter, it is important to order the correct size.

A halter should be made from polyester rope and not cotton or nylon, as this is a robust material that will not suffer from rot or mould, and it is of a weight and consistency that allows a good transmission of feel through the halter and line. I exclusively use two brands of halter. The first is that of my friend Richard Winters and can be ordered from his store at www.wintersranch.com. My friend Mickey Gavin makes excellent rope halters in the UK and can be contacted at www.truehorsemanship.com. It is important to buy a quality item for rope halters. The ones I own have seen a lot of use in various situations, unlike cheaper halters on the market, and they will still be serviceable for many years to come.

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Brandon, a passionate advocate for holistic horsemanship, champions a communication-based approach that preserves horses' natural disposition, eschewing restrictive control in favour of mutual understanding and comfort - both mental and physical - to cultivate superior equine athletes and deeply rewarding human-horse partnerships.